Hey, Sweet Things!
I’m writing this post to you on Saturday night from the seat of a gigantic United Airlines plane on my connect flight from DC back to Houston. The Living Proof Live team and I had the tremendous privilege of serving in Providence, Rhode Island and God worked in such a distinct way that I will remember it for many years. I hope forever. God is doing something different this year at LPL. I don’t quite know how to define it but I have been flat-on-my-face grateful that He is not only still in it but stirring the pot. Not one of us on the team wants to be there a moment longer than Jesus is. We don’t even want Him to make an obligatory “appearance” because He loves us and feels sorry for us after we’ve scheduled all of this. We want the event to be proactively Jesus for His own sake and for His own glory and because it is a delight to Him and because He looks forward to it. Nothing less than that and, if it’s not that, we want Him to move us each elsewhere.
It’s so strange. We began this year looking back to the previous 15 but, by our 3rd event, it was like we all fixed our faces forward as if nothing in the world mattered but what was in front of us. No “yesterday’s plan.” No “yesterday’s work.” This is today. Something is up. Something new to us. There is something liberating and also a little frightening about just saying to Him, “Do what You want, God. Anything You want. We’re in it with You or we’re not in it at all. All bets are off.” Anyway, I’m not sure why I went off on all of that. God just really has my eyebrows high on my forehead right now wondering what He’s doing.
I have a group of about 30 of you Siestas fresh on my mind because we met up quickly after the event for our group picture. These were your northeastern sisters and the cutest things you can imagine. Well, just like all of you are. All ages and types, with this one glorious bond: the lively love of Jesus Christ. I am so crazy about you guys. I cannot fathom the grace of God to have stirred up a community of encouragement in Christ where relationships really do seem to have some substance to them. It’s an anomaly that still isn’t wasted on me.
You have marked my journey of faith. You’ve encouraged me and made me want to keep running my race energetically and earnestly. You’ve helped me get back up even at times when you didn’t know I was down. You have been a harbor of joy, peace, and laughter in an online Christian world that can be astonishingly fractured. You are a corner of courageous gentleness in a culture that has lost its manners.
And, good grief, you guys have impacted my Scripture memory life so dramatically that I hardly have words. After every Living Proof Live when we meet up for our (clandestine) Siesta picture, I always ask, “Will I be seeing any of you in January at our SSMT celebration?” Invariably there are those who answer with infectious enthusiasm, “YES!” It makes me so happy. The previous celebrations have been like a family reunion on steroids. I hope so much you’re staying up with your Scripture memory, saving your money, and planning to head to Houston that weekend. We aren’t really a beautiful city but we’re a happy one and a hospitable one, I believe I can confidently say. And we can offer you Tex Mex at virtually every four way stop. I mean, what more could you want, people?
The verse I’ve chosen this time around is one God seemed to lift from the page of my early morning Scripture reading last Monday. I continued to say it and pray it throughout the week and referenced it several times this weekend in Providence. It’s easy to memorize and it puts a concept in a nutshell that is as vital as breath to us in this believing life we’re living. Here it is:
Beth, Houston. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
God is using it to remind me that this thing isn’t about incessant chatter and nonstop Twitter noise and learning to speak fluent Christianese. It’s not tantamount to Bible banter and doctrinal debates and holy hair-splitting. It’s not about getting together at church and threatening week after week to live changed lives and think renewed thoughts. It’s not about getting all lathered up and sweaty-headed at events over theories of effective, influential, and abundant lives. This Christ thing to which we’ve been called is about actually doing it and through an unction not remotely our own.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He comes with power.
Where the Holy Spirit goes, He goes with power.
Whom the Holy Spirit infiltrates, He infuses with power.
Our lives were meant to be powerful. Less talk. More demonstration. Through things like a love that we know good and well is utterly beyond us and a faith that emerges in tact from a minefield soaked in blood and strewn with flesh. We were meant to be able to do what we can’t, like who we don’t, bless who we’d curse. We were promised strength in weakness and extravagant grace in our deprivation.
We were meant to wonder what has derailed or gone awry when a season of our lives persists in powerlessness for weeks on end. We were promised more than this. We’re not meant to write our own personalized chapters in a revised standard version of The Emperor’s New Clothes so the world could have a harder laugh at us. We who have placed our trust in Christ Jesus, the living, breathing-on-us Son of God, have been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49) And it’s supposed to show.
Every limb of our lives where we welcome the Holy Spirit can be infused with strength not of this world and, yes, even in continued weakness or infirmity, should that be the case of our present calling. The coexistence of the two is the mystery of it. We’re not superwomen. We’re a long shot from perfect. But we were meant to be vividly powerful through the One who saved us and made Himself at home in us. Let’s not forget that today. Let’s not be satisfied just to talk about it. Let’s not just clap and cheer during that part of a service when a pastor or teacher tells us we’re called more than conquerors. The New Testament is not the theory of Christianity.
You may feel powerless right now, Sister, but, if you are in Christ, make no mistake: you are not. Get some backbone back in your prayer life if your spiritual spine has deteriorated. With reverence for His holiness and with the boldness He said we could bring to the Throne of Grace, read to God from His Word where He promised His people victory as they looked to Him alone…
…and where He promised to clothe us in power
…and where He said He’d make Himself conspicuous through our spiritual gifts and through supernatural works in His Name.
If you don’t know where those places are, go hunt them down. (But you could start in Romans 8, Luke 24, Acts 1, Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 12 and Hebrews 4.)
Tell Him you’re going to ask for it and ask for it and ask for it in His great Name and for His glory until He gives it to you and frees you from whatever this present powerlessness is. And then DO IT. Ask and ask and ask and tell Him you will do whatever it takes to cooperate and mean it! Throw your hands out to receive. And, then, when He gives it – and He will – don’t take credit for it. Appreciate it. Thank Him and thank Him for it. Know that it’s grace. Use it audaciously to bring Him attention.
Sister, you cannot fulfill your foreordained purpose without power. Go back after it but, whatever you do, don’t try to get it without Jesus coming with it. Power for power’s sake will blow you up. God-given unction isn’t meant to just come and go with periodic personal revival. We were meant to live powerful lives. Let’s get to them. If you’ve got an area of carnality that is quenching it, I promise you it’s not worth it. Believe me, I’ve been there. Repent, turn from it and get on with it. You’ve got a calling. And it takes divine power.
You mean so much to me. Hold tight to Jesus.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Suzy – Atlanta
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we outght, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26 – ESV
Sandie from Red Deer
You God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you:
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water
Psalm 63:1
Vivian
Birmingham, Alabama
The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command. When He had cleansed us from our sins, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. Hebrews 1:3 (NLT)
Jenn, Frederick CO
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us–
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalms 90:17
Paula, Okc, OK: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Exodus 20:7 NIV
Natalie, Nesbit “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Paula , Conway,SC
And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
—Isaiah 6:3
Elizabeth, Gainesville, GA
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.” 1 Peter 3:3, NIV
Christy
Fayetteville, AR
Isaiah 8:13-14a
NIV
“The LORD Almighty is the One you are to regard as holy, He is the One you are to fear, He is the One you are to dread, and He will be a sanctuary.”
Isaiah 8:13-14a
NIV
Michelle, Alberta, Canada
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
– Mark 11:24 NIV
Shera Jenkins, Lynchburg, Va.
Psalm 52:9 For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.
Hanna Wahlbrink. Lexington, Ky.
The Lord protects the simple hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
Psalm 11:6-7 (NIV)
Beth R Liberty Lake
James 1:14 NIV
but each of you is tempted when you are dragged away by your own evil desire and enticed.
Sarah H.
Conroe, TX
Psalm 90:14 NIV
Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.
Mary Ellen in Laurel, MT
“When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.” Ps. 65:3 NIV
Roxanne
Hummelstown, Pa
2Tim 1:7 (ESV)
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Jordin, Albuquerque, NM
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9, NIV
Regina, Salado, TX
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
Laura, Jefferson, ME
Psalm 25:12-13
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
(13) His soul shall abide in well-being,and his offspring shall inherit the land.
Sweet Beth,
My dear friend Leslie ran into you at the airport today and she was so blessed! Leslie and I led several of your studies at our church and were so blessed by you! We also saw you together in Tacoma,WA! I have actually seen you in Portland, Tacoma, and Eugene this past April. We love you here in the Northwest and hope to see you visit again soon! Blessings to you!
Kristen
Cindy from OR says: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
“O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.”
Psalm 139:1 (NIV’84)
Kathy
St. Louis, MO
Kaci; Moultrie, Ga
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 27:1 NKJV
Candy Seale La Grange, Texas
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
I Corinthians 2:9 KJV
“We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need” (Colossians 1:11 NLT).
Chandler, Arizona. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Ashlie McDonald- Salt Lake City, Utah
Continuing on in my memorization of Psalm 91.
Psalm 91:14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.” ESV
Cindi from Amanda,Ohio
Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us.
Lakeisha, Mays Landing NJ
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Missy, N. Myrtle Beach. Isaiah 33:10 (NLT)
10 But the Lord says: “Now I will stand up.
Now I will show my power and might.
Can you image the Creator of the Universe STANDING on our behalf??? When my Daddy got out of his chair… It meant TROUBLE!!!
Annalee in Houston
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
Psalm 34:5
Denise Wilkin
The Woodlands, TX
Isaiah 43:15
I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
ASV
Amanda The Colony, TX
1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT ” For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
Ashley Edwards, Dallas, Ga
“This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”
John 1:28 (NIV)
Beckie Potterfield, Florence, SC
Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart’s desires.
Psalm 37:4 (NRSV)
Leah from St.Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
Psalm 90:14 (NLT)
Shelly Hough
Gordon, Texas
1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
NIV
Shannon- Bethesda: “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” Philippians 2:14
Nadine Fry, Morton, UK
The Lord will protect you from all harm;
He will protect your life.
Psalm 121:7
HCSB
Becky Stromsburg, NE
Philippians 2:14 NIV
Do everything without complaining or arguing
Memphis, TN
“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”
Ps. 32:5 ESV
Michelle Parma, Ohio
James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings.
Psalm 145:16
When You open Your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
NLT
Jane, Cuba, MO
Eph. 6:13-15 NIV
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Olive Branch, Ms
Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. (Colossians 3:2 HCSB)
Noreen
Calgary, Alberta
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Kristi, Gardner, KS
Habakkuk 3:18 (with paraphrase of v 17 as intro)
When things don’t go the way I had hoped, v18–Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
Debbie Laureen, New Port Richey, FL
” When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.” Numbers 11:9
NIV
Sacha
Midland, TX
John 4:34 (ESV)
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.”
Melanie – Decatur, AL
James 1:4-5 NIV
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.